Cazenove merger supremo may quit after missing out on top job

Ian Hannam, one of the City of London's most prolific merger advisers, is this weekend contemplating his future after missing out on the top job at JP Morgan Cazenove.

Hannam, who has overseen the flotations of natural resources companies such as Kazakhmys, BHP Billiton and Xstrata, is understood to be thinking of quitting the investment bank following the recruitment last week of Naguib Kheraj, the former Barclays finance director, as its chief executive.

Friends of Hannam said last night he was likely to resign unless he was offered "an olive branch", such as a seat on the board, by JP Morgan Cazenove.

Hannam, who worked on the merger of NTL and Virgin Mobile and the creation of SABMiller, the London-headquartered brewing giant, was overseas last night and unavailable for comment.

Sources close to JP Morgan Cazenove insisted that Hannam had not formally resigned.

Tensions over the succession at Cazenove may prefigure a similar debate about the future of one of the most venerable names in the City. JP Morgan, which paid £100m for a 50 per cent stake in 2005, has the option to buy the remaining half of Cazenove in 2010, a prospect which has caused unease among some senior members of the firm.

David Mayhew, the chairman of JP Morgan Cazenove, was on holiday in Norway yesterday and declined to comment on Hannam's future.

Hannam was widely credited with being one of the chief architects of the JP Morgan Cazenove joint venture in 2005 and was senior to Kheraj when the pair worked together at Salomon Brothers during the 1980s.